Squiddily Sage
by ThePizzaLovingTurtle
Summary: Overseeing a world of squids shooting ink, an Inkling reflects on his life and the world whose fate is tied to the ones outside.
**Splatoon: Squiddily Sage**

The wind blew past carrying a chilly message, but wrapped in his coat, Splin felt rather calm and warm. His tentacles buzzed and flashed in the wind rapidly and unpredictably, shifting from color to color. Though a bizarre spectacle for an Inkling, Splin was anything but the average Inkling at this point. At the crisp age of twenty-eight, he has grown tall. Clean cut boots hidden under his robe-like coat blowing in the wind gave him the image of a sage. Thought the colorful Designer Headphones wrapped around his neck betrayed his appearance somewhat, giving him a hint of immaturity despite his age.

The Inkling, Splin, had been a younger squid before. He had a brother, a mother and a father who had gone away early in his lifetime. He had met wondrous people, and gone on some rather bizarre adventures in the city of Inkopolis and beyond.

Now, Splin had outgrown Turf Wars and the like. Technology and other advances had allowed for more stages, weapons, and other specific adjustments meant for making the game much more entertaining. At least, he thought so. Was it this realm in particular? Does he even exist anymore? However, Splin, not being an enthusiast of the ink-based battles anymore, or hardly being under the age of eighteen, could hardly care. Besides, there were other things on his mind.

The weatherman, or weatherfish in this particular world, had called for mild clouds and a slim possibility of a rain shower, and rightfully advised these water-soluble squid people to stay indoors in the case of such. Splin scowled, staring at the sky. Indeed, multiple clouds were filing in from the sky. He knew he could do something about it. He stared at the clouds. Nothing but code to reprogram, a story he could rewrite, a drawing he could erase and change.

After an astounding discovery, Splin discovered his world was malleable, bizarre It was hardly a world to begin with, he found, and was made to be changed or played with. The playful Inklings hardly noticed. Only a select few could see through. Even then, some of them took it in stride, laughing and conversing with those seeing through at them outside their respective universe, happily looking at themselves as something wonderful. Splin closed his eyes, sighing. It would not be that way for long. He knew he and this large world of Inklings would soon come to an end. Once those outside tire of it, the plug will be pulled, and he with the others will vanish, nothing but a fleeting memory. He could see the story as it unfolded, paint the world in his liking, the servers would go down as the console is pushed to the side sometime in the far future, perhaps he would perish of natural causes, and perhaps he would not.

But for the most part he just stood outside on the grassy hills sleepily.

The clouds rolled in. Splin stared up at the sky, his eyes buzzing. They too blinked in multiple colors, analyzing the tufts of vapor closely. Nothing but details meant to decorate the sky. They had the capability of hurting those who stood in the showers for too long. Meaning those stuck outside in Turf Wars, or outside in general, would be a prime target for the raindrops. However, Splin sighed, lazily turning away. Rain was needed for grass, for trees. It would be a selfish act, he believed, to spare the lives of some of his race, robbing plant life of the only liquid that could quench their thirst as a result, possibly ruining the ecosystem-

He felt something tug on his leg, snapping him out of his doldrums. Blinking, he looked down, noticing a young blue squid staring up at him. He flinched.

"...Rine?" Splin blinked.

"Rine" responded with a simple squeak, staring up at him. Splin frowned, staring around, finding no one else in sight.

"Goodness Sharq, do you just leave your kids to do whatever they want?" Splin shook his head.

"Of course not!"

Splin felt another tug on his other leg, where a slightly older squid stood, with the outline of a humanoid form. She grinned up at Splin, who sighed.

"Miss Rief, care to explain what you two are doing outside without your parents today?" Splin asked, a hint of a smirk on his face.

"Dad wanted us to see you!" Rief told Splin, waltzing around him.

"All by yourselves?" Splin asked, staring down at them.

"We can handle whatever we need to by ourselves, you know!" Rief announced.

Splin chuckled at the young squid. Glancing back at the sky, he whistled.

"It might rain today. Why don't you skedaddle back home?" Splin suggested.

"No can do uncle!" Rief grinned, "Dad asked, and we deliver!"

"The education system today is certainly potent." Splin whistled, "I remember a time when squids had a hard time even making noise."

Well, that and-

"I know, I know." Splin spoke up.

"Are you talking to voice again?" Rief asked, "Hi voice!"

Hello.

Rief giggled, waving towards the clouds. "Uncle Splin, you shouldn't talk to voices in the sky! That's silly!"

"Well, quite frankly my dear Rief, your uncle is a silly man." Splin told her gently, patting her head.

"You got that right! The only guy sillier than you would be dad!" Rief smiled, rolling about in the grass, "But he doesn't really have time to be silly anymore."

"...Hmm. Define 'Silly'." Splin muttered.

"Huh? Um, he's always so busy with work." Rief told him.

"Well, that's not exactly the prime definition of 'silly', but I understand." Splin nodded, "Ironic. Your father used to bug me about every little thing he wanted to do, and now he's the one with his hands full."

Rief frowned. "Lucky."

Splin sighed in nostalgic reminiscence. "I suppose I was back then."

Splin glanced at the sky, somewhat worriedly now. He hardly cared for his own life nowadays since he had attained a special, yet disturbing and fear-provoking sentience and understanding of his fragile world, but he had still worried about the other denizens of his little world, who blissfully went along with their "lives".

The rain was arguably something that Inklings were not fond of. No one actually WANTED to go out and see if they could survive getting splashed, but at the same time, it was advised not to for fear of fading away with the water, though it was up for debate if they really fell in water. Some claimed they did, some did not. So Splin, being the insane Inkling he was, stood outside in the rain. But if his nieces were to live for another day…

The brother turned uncle shook his head with a sigh.

"What's wrong Splin? Er, uncle?" Rief asked, hopping up to his leg.

Splin blinked. The sky was clear again. Not a cloud in sight, for he willed it, and his world delivered. He sighed, shaking his head.

"There goes a day without rain for crops. Shame." Splin shook his head.

"Huh?" Rief blinked, glancing up at the sky, "Ooh! Wow, that's weird! The clouds are gone!"

Splin could not help smiling at the smaller blue squids. Rief gleefully pointed it out, gesturing to the sky for her younger sister to see, Rine cooing in amazement.

"Well, that's a shame!" Rief spoke up.

Splin blinked, glancing down at the two curiously. He frowned, noticing a large object suspended over the heads of the young squids.

"I was really looking forward to testing out this umbrella!" Rief said, frowning at the sky, "Oh well. See you later uncle!"

In spite of the two blue squid's safety, Splin just frowned. He had successfully delayed crops and trees from growing to the fullest. He would have to make sure another rain cycle would transpire, while simultaneously ensuring that it would not interrupt too many squid lives. This was Splin's basic new life.

"...Hmm." Splin murmured, looking up to the sky.

The sun beamed down on the land. Two small, blue squids were seen leaping up into the sky with a great force, almost flying through the sky away from the hills Splin still called home. He sighed, shaking his head.

"...Eh. Life's really just a game, I suppose. I guess there really isn't a point to moping over this anymore." Splin muttered, sitting down on the crisp grass of the hills.

Splin sat there on the hills, tiredly looking out to the city of Inkopolis. Did it technically exist in the "reality" outside, no. But it existed as something wonderful regardless, a hub for people to express creativity and play around with friends and foes alike, in this mesh of hues and tints, this story of ink battles and stories stemming from its Inkling versus Octoling base, its weapons, its colors, its ink. All of which started with a game, which could dissipate in years.

Splin sighed contently. "I mean, that's only my subjective opinion. What about you?"

Splin let the question sit in the air, permeating the world, this story he came to know as his home. Splin smiled.

"...It's fine, you don't have to answer. It's really just a silly game, this is." Splin grinned, "A story, through and through, right?"

The Inkling grasped the headphones wrapped around his neck, pulled them up to his ears, and hummed to the music playing as he looked out on this digital, bizarre, and subjective in its value world of squids and colors.

* * *

AN: Yeah, it's a crazy, noisy, bizarre world out there. Good thing we have video games.

Thanks for reading, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle.

Splatoon is a bit weird, isn't it?


End file.
